Removable cover for basket chair



Nov- 27, 1962 J. 1.. FINUCANE 3,065,991

REMOVABLE COVER FOR BASKET CHAIR Filed March 21, 1961 E 2a a /4 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR. c/omv l. film/we Nov- 27, 1962 J.- FINUCANE 3,065,991

REMOVABLE COVER FOR BASKET CHAIR Filed Marh 21, 1961 EL 1 I /7 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 06w 4. 500040:

ATTO EYS United States Patent Ofitice p 3,065,991 Patented Nov. 27, 1962 3,065,991 REMGVABLE COVER FOR BASKET CHAIR John L. Finucane, 5131 Washington Blvd, Indianapolis, Ind. Filed Mar. 21, 1951, Ser. No. 97,237 3 Claims. (Cl. 27-229) The present invention relates to an improved decorative and protective cover for a basket type chair.

Basket type chairs are usually formed of woven springy natural fibers such as rattan. l The woven material is usually supported on a lightweight frame with the outer edge of the frame generally circular shaped and the woven material formed in a first concave cylindrical segment for the seat and in a second concave cylindrical segment for the back. The back and seat are continuous making the chairs comfortable in providing overall slightly yielding support for the occupant. The chairs are also relatively inexpensive and can be formed of cheap natural fibers.

The fibers have a tendency to fray however and the fraying often ocurs at the edges where it becomes unsightly and presents a hazard to the wearers clothes, causing snags in stockings and becoming uncomfortable. The fraying of the fibers while making the chair unsightly and hazardous to the clothing has noappreciable effect on the strength of the chair and often'this occurs when the chair would otherwise give many more years of satisfactory service.

Accordingly an object of the invention is to provide a cover for a basket chair which furnishes a liner for the seat and back and protectively covers the outer edge of the chair so that a worn and frayed or inexpensive chair can be turned into a fresh new expensive appearing safe chair by combining with the cover.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cover which is particularly adapted to the specific shape of basket type chairs andwill conform to the contour of-the seat and back of the chairs and also will readily adapt itself to chairs of different sizes so that one size cover may be used for all basket chairs. i

A further object of the invention is to provide a cover structure for a basket type chair which can be made of cloth and wherein the structure will not lose the conformation of the chair with use and the features of the cloth are utilized to accommodate the particular stresses which occur to the back and seat of a chair during occupancy.

A further object of the invention is to provide a protective attractive removable washable cover for a basket chair which is simply and inexpensively made and wherein the arrangement permits forming the seat and back out of a single panel of material and the material shape permits manufacture at low cost with a minimum loss of material and the formation of minimum lengths of seams.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a cover wherein the seat and back of the chair are covered by a body panel having a pair of adjacent pointed oval shaped sections with outer side edges providing upper and lower edges of the body panel and with inner side edges integral with each other along the midpoint and joined for the remainder of their length, a pair of back panels for positioning behind the back of the chair being pointed semioval shaped with curved upper and lower side edges and a base edge with the base edges of the back panels adjacent each other and releasably snapped together and with the upper side edge joined to the upper edge of the body panel, a pair of bottom panels being pointed semioval shaped with curved front and back edges and base edges with the front edge attached to the lower edge of the body panel and the rear edge attached to the lower edge of the back panel, and a draw string through a seam formed at the center of the lower edge of the body panel and at the base edge of the bottom panels and lower edge of the back panels for releasably drawing the body panel over the edge of the chair.

Other objects features and advantages will become more apparent with the teaching of the principles of the invention in connection with the disclosure of the preferred embodiment thereof in the specification, claims and drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is 'a top plan view showing the shape of panels forming a cover embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view showing a cover and basket chair in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the cover and chair of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom plan view showing the means of securing the cover on the chair; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line V--V of FIGURE 2.

As shown on the drawings:

A basket type chair 10 is shown combined with a cover 11 in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 with the chair having legs 10a, a seat 10b and a back 100. Basket type chairs are well known and are made in various grades and qualities but are popularly in the form of an inexpensive chair formed of woven materials such as rattan and are fre quently imported. Because of their low cost and comfort and suitability to porch or patio use they are popular and substantially all have the same shape with the seat being formed concave as a segment of a cylinder and the back eing concave as a segment of the cylinder with the two segments joined along a line. The continuous woven material of the back and seat are normally attached to a shaped wood or bamboo frame which forms a circular outer edge bounding both the seat and the back. The legs may be of various types such as shaped tubular steel suitably secured to the chair frame.

FlGURE 1 illustrates the layout of a cover 11 which is shown placed over the chair in FIGURES 2 through 5.

The surface of the seat and back of the chair which is exposed to the occupant is covered by a single body panel 12. The body panel has a back section 17 and a seat section 18 which respectively provide liners for the concave surfaces of the back and seat 1% of the chair 10. The sections are shaped to from a point at the end that can be well described as being of a pointed oval shape.

The curvedinner side edges 19 and 20 of the sections 17 and 18 are integral for a distance at their midpoint so as to form continuous material. The body panel and other panels may be made of various suitable materials and preferably are made of cloth with the straight of the goods extending at right angles to the axes of the oval sections as indicated by the broken arrowed line which is labeled to show the straight of the goods, in FIGURE 1.

The goods is non-stretchable in this direction and the straight of the goods will extend vertically on the back of the chair and horizontally from the front to the back of the seat. Most of the motion of the occupant in sliding into the seat and moving up and down or slumping when in the chair occurs in the vertical direction with respect to the back, and from front to back or back to front with respect to the seat and thus the straight of the goods runs parallel to this direction. Since the straight of the goods is highly resistant to stretching the body 7 panel will retain its shape and retain conformity with of the junction between the seat and back of the chair.

The outer curved sides form upper and lower curved edges 21 and 22 of the body panel. These edges, when the cover is in position on the chair will be drawn over the rounded outer edge of the seat and back of the chair so that the material of the body panel will cover the curved edge of the chair where most of the fraying of the chair fibers occurs. This will present smooth finished material and the seams at the top and bottom edges 21 and 22 will be behind the chair.

A pair of back panels 13 and 14 are also provided which will be positioned behind the back like of the chair, as shown in FIGURE 3, and a pair of lower or bottom panels 15 and 16 are provided which will be beneath the seat 101 of the chair, as shown in FIGURE 4.

The back panels are semi-pointed oval shape and each have a top curved side edge 27 and 24 respectively and a bottom curved side edge 26 and 23 respectively. The top and bottom designations are used with reference to the position of the back panels on the chair, and they are inverted in position as shown in FIGURE 1 inasmuch as the pattern is spread out or shown as opened up. The back panels also have straight base edges 28 and and the panels normally are cut by the base edges extending parallel to the straight of the goods.

The back panels are attached to the body panel 12 by securing their top edges 27 and 24 to the top edge 21 of the body panel, and the attaching seam is shown at 29 in FIGURE 3. The pointed ends of the back panels 13 and 14 are substantially at the pointed ends of the sections 18 and 19 of the body panel, although the back panels 13 and 14 are made so that their combined length is slightly longer than the length of the sections of the body panel and their bottom edges 26 and 23 will be slightly below the seams 30 when the panels are joined.

The back panels are provided with releasable fasteners such as snaps 31, FIGURE 3, for releasably connecting thebase edges 28 and 25 across the back of the chair.

For aiding in holding the body panel into the concavity of the chair, tie cords 32 may be sewed to the backside of the body panel 12, as ilustrated in FIGURE 1, and these tie cords will be drawn between the fibers 'of the woven chair to be tied to the fibers or to a frame piece 43 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 5.

The bottom panels 15 and 16 are each pointed semioval shaped and have curved front side edges 33 and 35 respectively which are connected to the bottom edge 21 of the body panel, as shown by the seam 39 in FIGURE 4. The bottom panels have back curved side edges 34 and 36 which are attached to the bottom edges 26 and 23 respectively of the back panel, as shown by the seams in FIGURE 4. v The cover is provided with a holding means for releasably drawing the bottom panels 15 and 16 toward each other and for drawing the bottom edge 22 of the body panel toward the bottom edges 23 and 26 of the back panels, thereby drawing the edge of the body panels over the curved edge of the chair in a protective manner. For this purpose a draw string 41 is shown threaded through a seam 42. The seam is continuous and is provided in the bottom edge 22 of the body panel, in the base edges 37 and 38 of the bottom panels 15 and 16, and at the inner ends of the bottom edges 23 and 26 of the back panels, as illustrated in FIGURE 4.

The panels are cut from a suitable material such as an attractive protective cloth in the pattern shapes shown in FIGURE 1, seamed together, and placed over a basket chair. The snaps 31 are closed to secure the base edges of the back panels 13 and 14, the draw strings 32 are brought through the fibers of the seat of the chair where it joins the back of the chair and tied, and the draw string 41 is pulled up and tied. This provides a protective attractive removable cover usable on all basket chairs.

It is contemplated as another arrangement that the back panels 13 and 14 can be formed integral with the body panel 12. That is, the inner por ions of the edges 24 and 27 can be connected to the center portion of the top edge 21. The base edges 25 and 28 could be joined by snaps or by a zipper.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a chair and cover combination which meets the objectives and advantages hereinabove set forth. The cover is well adapted to manufacturing at a relatively low cost and transforms an inexpensive basket chair to a colorful attractive chair and prevents any discomfort or injury from fraying fibers or makes an old chair useful, attractive and new appearing.

The drawings and specification present a detailed disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific forms disclosed, but covers all modifications, changes and alternative constructions and methods falling within the scope of the principles taught by the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A unitary removable cover for a basket chair comprising a body panel having a pair of adjacent pointed oval shaped sections with their outer side edges providing upper and lower edges of the panel and being uni'ed along the inner side edges of the sections, said body panel providing a liner for the upper side of a basket type chair and protectively extending over the peripheral edge thereof, covering means for the underside of said basket type chair comprising panel means having a plurality of sets of edge portions, one of said sets comprfsing arcuate edge portions coextensive with and united with the oval shaped upper edge of said body panel independently of the chair and coextensive with and united with portions of the oval shaped lower edge of said body panel independently of the chair and another of said sets comprising edge portions separably united together to allow placement of said unitary removable cover on a basket type chair.

2. A cover for a basket chair comprising a body panel having a pair of adjacent pointed oval shaped secticns wtih their outer side edges providing upper and lower edges of the panel and being integral with each other along the midpoint of the inner side edges of the sections and with the remainder of the inner side edges joined, said body panel forming a liner for the concave seat and back of a basket type chair and protectively extending over the edges of the chair, a pair of back panels being pointed semioval shaped wiih curved side edges and a base edge with the base edges of the back panels adjacent each other and with one side edge of each back panel joined to the upper edge of the body panel to be positioned behind the back of the char, a pair of lower panels being pointed semioval shaped with curved side edges and a base edge, one side edge of each lower panel attached to the ends of the lower edge of the body panel and the other side edge of the lower panel attached to the other side edge of the back panel to be positioned below the seat of the chair, and a draw string extending through a seam formed at the center of the lower side edge of the body panel, at the other side edges of the back panels, and at the base edges of the 'lower panels.

3. A cover for a basket chair comprising a body panel having a pair of adjacent pointed oval shaped sections with their outer side edges providing upper and lower edges of the panel and being integral with each other along the midpoint of the inner side edges of the sections and with the remainder of the inner side edges joined, said body panel forming a liner for the concave seat and back of a basket type chair and prctectively extending over the edges of the chair, a pair of back panels being pointed semioval shaped with curved upper and lower side edges and a base edge with the base edges of the back panels adjacent each other and with the upper side edge of each back panel joined to the upper edge of the body panel to be positioned behind the back of the chair, a pair of bottom panels being pointed semioval shaped with curved front and back side edges and a base edge, the front side edges attached to the lower edge of the body panel and the back side edge attached to the lower side edge of the back panel to be positioned below the seat of the chair, and holding means for releasably drawing the bottom panels toward each other and the back panels toward the lower edge of the body panel to pull the body panel over the edge of the chair accommodating variations in chair size.

1,717,121 Sallop June 11, 1929 6 Whaley Aug. 25, 1931 Field A Jan. 14, 1941 Warauch Apr. 3, 1945 Aronov May 1, 1951 Weakland Mar. 25, 1952 Yellen Nov. 15, 1955 Granby Nov. 29, 1955 Eames Mar. 20, 1956 Lo Vico Dec. 10, 1957 Ng Jan. 26, 1960 Howell Apr. 17, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain June 28, 1935 Great Britain Oct. 21, 1959 

